Dental age assessment for Kuwaiti children using Demirjian's method.

BACKGROUND Dental age can be estimated based on the level of tooth mineralization during the developmental process. Various methods of determining chronological and radiographical stages have been used for dental age estimation. AIM To test the validity of the standards of dental maturation of Demirjian and Goldstein (Ann Hum Biol 3:411-421, 1976) when applied to Kuwaiti children. SUBJECTS AND METHODS The sample was selected from healthy Kuwaiti children attending the routine and emergency dental clinics of the Faculty of Dentistry, Kuwait University. Good quality rotational pantomographs were obtained for 509 children (263 girls and 246 boys) between 3 and 14 years. Maturation of the seven permanent teeth on the left side of the mandible was determined according to the crown and root development stages described by Demirjian et al. (Hum Biol 45:211-227, 1973). RESULTS There were statistically significant differences in the mean of dental maturation between Kuwaiti and French-Canadian children (p<0.0001). Kuwaiti children were dentally delayed compared to the Canadian standards (mean dental maturation difference of 0.69 year, SD=1.25 years, CI=0.58-0.80). The mean delay in girls was 0.67 year (SD=1.30 years, CI=0.51-0.83) and in boys it was 0.71 year (SD=1.18 years, CI=0.56-0.86). Using a non-linear regression model, function formulae were developed for Kuwaiti girls and boys. CONCLUSION The standards of dental maturation described by Demirjian and Goldstein (1976) may not be suitable for Kuwaiti children.